My 2011 Honda CR-Z...detailed and maintence!

[Klasse Act]

I bought the car on Sept 10th, 2011 and the next day, went to town on the paint:

-good hand car wash
-clay bar
-3x's Zaino Z-5 pro w/ZFX
-1 coat of Zaino Clear Seal

The upcoming week had me layering a couple more coats of Z-CS , its so easy I couldn't help myself. I knew winter would be here soon enough, so that's another reason for all the coats. The last coat for the year was applied on "Black Friday" because it was still warm enough to do so. Then we got a nice day on January 9th, 2012 and I applied another coat of Z-CS to the car, took longer to dry but that's ok. Before I was turned on to ONR I was using a good, touch-free wash to keep the car clean. Since our winter was so mild I was able to use ONR quite a bit during January/February and let me tell you this, there's still NO grit on the paint when I touch it, amazing! IMO its a combo of the Zaino/multiple coats/ONR:dblthumb2:

Anyways, here's a couple pics of the car in stock trim (new wheels are going on in a couple weeks!)

That Zaino shine, still holding up through the winter!

I call this one "The Sky of SSM" (Storm Silver Metallic)

Overall pics of the car

The "Mile High Club", taken on the Cherahola Skyway at its highest point!

Check out the gas prices down there in mid October!

We've all been here (well, most of us anyways)

ONR v2 to the rescue a couple days later!

Hope you enjoyed the pics, they were all taken with my camera phone, I never have my g/f's digital camera with me it seems but it takes good enough pics. My sig is correct and current BTW, 23 coats of Z-5/Z-CS and 1 coat of Klasse SG to date:dblthumb2:

 

[Finemess]

Sweet little ride. How do you like the car overall?

 

[alko]

Wow the car looks fantastic! Someone at my job has this car and if I could afford it, I would pick one up as a daily driver. Its a pretty nice ride. And I'm also a big Honda fan-I'll always own one.

On a side note...LOOK AT THE GAS PRICES!!! Holy crap!!! I need to move ASAP!

 

[Klasse Act]

Sweet little ride. How do you like the car overall?

I really, really like the car alot so far, its exceeded my expectations for mpg's (didn't buy it just because of that either) I reset my trip B in early December and the mpg is showing 40.3 average and that's with winter grade fuel and cold temps and 2 storms of 6 and 7" too. My last tank netted 41.5 mpg, I've been using premium in the car the whole time because I believe in premium being better for mpg's and so far, I can't complain one bit, it really works for me. That last tank was Shell V-power and I almost always use BP, might make the change, gotta see how it goes going back to BP.

The handling is pretty good considering its crappy tires from the factory and smallish wheels. I took it on the Dragon/Cherahola and those tires did do better than I thought, although they did get scuffed up on the shoulders though, LOL. Not once did I lose traction but next time I've gotta turn off the traction control, I mean its a Honda and it doesn't have any torque to begin with and a couple times the traction control light did flash, so I'd like to remember that and turn it off next time, I'm sure its not going to get away from me.

The ride quality is nice as are the seats, very comfortable. Its the EX model so its got blue tooth, foglights and HIDs, all features you really want on this car, especially the blue tooth, It also has the better stereo too, complete with sub and it kicks, well, kicks for me! Jimi, SRV and Miles to name a few sound real good through the speakers!

I've done a couple mods for looks along the way too. Had the A-pillar and rear section between the rear windows wrapped in Scotchbrite CF vinyl, along with blue vinyl inserts for the H emblems, debadged as well as yellow vinyl for the foglights (its coming off and real yellow fogbulbs are going in soon) The wheels I'm getting are MB Weapons, 17 x 7 (up 1" in both diameter and width) so that should really improve the handling, big time and I'll be going with Continental DWS P225/45's, HUGE fan of these tires!!! I also had the muffler removed and let me tell you this, its the best $88.00 I['ve ever spent on any car! Its not ricey sounding at all, just nice and deep and it even 'snaps, crackles and pops" between shifts, awesome. I currently have a K&N drop in but I just got the K&N typhoon intake system for it and based off of past experience, its going to perform great on this car. Additional mods will be 2nd cat delete and Honda Fit intake chamber to make gains in both hp and torque, every little bit helps with a Honda, LOL.

 

[Finemess]

Very nice, sounds like you are happy. I like your list of mods to. Cant wait to see the new tire/wheel combo. You have a really nice ride there. Love the color.

 

[Slava]

Great job on the CRZ it looks good.

I'm glad to see other people that enjoy the CRZ.
I'm also a CRZ owner.

 

[Klasse Act]

Great job on the CRZ it looks good.

I'm glad to see other people that enjoy the CRZ.
I'm also a CRZ owner.

Are you on the CR-Z forum? If so, which one? What color is yours?

My buddy actually just installed one of these on the car this afternoon, what do you guys think?

Now, for those who don't know the OEM set up, its this:

16 x 6 w/195-55's

What you see in the pic is:

18 x 7 w/225-40's

I actually want those wheels but the cost of a re-conditioned versions are about $200 per, so what would you guys do? I like this wheel because its:

-unique
-offset is spot on
-an 18" wheel that's got a 7" width

What do you guys think:help:

 

[alko]

I'd have to see it in person, but I would think 18" wheels would be too big for the car. I think 17" would be just right...then again I'd have to see it in person. The more I look at your car the more I want one.

 

[Klasse Act]

I'd have to see it in person, but I would think 18" wheels would be too big for the car. I think 17" would be just right...then again I'd have to see it in person. The more I look at your car the more I want one.

Well, that's cool to hear, especially if the gas keeps going up and up but check this out, wait till 2013, a more "hot' version is supposed to come out, seriously and strong rumors have a turbo going into the car, talk about "having your cake and eating it too". The use of turbo's not only gives you more hp and more importantly torque, but because the motor doesn't have to work as hard because of all that "free" power, the mileage isn't affected and infact, should go up!

 

[aqcivic]

love the crz. reminds me of my old 91 crx.

 

[SkateForGirl]

Mazda speed 6 wheels on a CRZ? Looks good. You should tell him to retrofit a Honda cap on the wheels though. Can't have Mazda symbols on a Honda in my opinion. Other then that they look good. I wish they came in 17's though.

 

[Klasse Act]

Mazda speed 6 wheels on a CRZ? Looks good. You should tell him to retrofit a Honda cap on the wheels though. Can't have Mazda symbols on a Honda in my opinion. Other then that they look good. I wish they came in 17's though.

I couldn't agree with you more about the centercap and get this, my buddy had those same wheels on his Mazdaspeed 3, popped off the stock emblem and put on the old school Mazdaspeed custom made acrylic decals, $25.00 for the set, so I'd be going that route as well.

The one thing I wished though is this, I wish the company that re-conditions them could paint them in charcoal gray, that would be killer. This is why the Altima SE-R wheels are another options now that I know the 18's look great on my car with the stock suspension.

BTW, I like your sig, is the S2K ever going to be for sale? I've got a buddy who's got money in hand and he's wanting another one once again, it would be his 3rd one. Drop me a PM if you wanna sell it and include some info/pics about it, thanks!

 

[Slava]

Are you on the CR-Z forum? If so, which one? What color is yours?

I'm not on the forum but we have a Milano Red CRZ.

 

[SkateForGirl]

BTW, I like your sig, is the S2K ever going to be for sale? I've got a buddy who's got money in hand and he's wanting another one once again, it would be his 3rd one. Drop me a PM if you wanna sell it and include some info/pics about it, thanks!

No, I will probably be keeping this car for a very long time. Good luck to your buddy with finding one though. Their are a lot of great prices on them lately.

 

[Klasse Act]

^^ Thanks Skate! ^^

Since it was so nice yesterday, about 50 here, after I ONR'd the g/f's Mazda 6, I ONR'd the CR-Z and then applied a coat of Zaino CS. Stopped at a park on the way home from work and took some pics today....

I just know that spring is right around the corner, well, atleast March is:dblthumb2:

 

[Klasse Act]

The "2 bucket method":dblthumb2:

Shimmering!

I can't wait for spring to get some coats of Z-5 pro on the car:coolgleam:

 

[Kris R]

Absolutely awesome. Im Jealous!! Im the MAN

I drive an 06 jeep wrangler unlimited. If this thing could seat more than 2 I'd get one in a heart beat to drive around town.

While I'm thinking about it, Ive been a fan of the ONR method despite HUGE skepticism before trying it. I really like it now. Done correctly with two buckets, and even a change out of water half way through if the car is really dirty, you can clean a vehicle no matter how much dirt is on it. Looking at your salt snow pic you did a great job.

Now heres my dilemma; I noticed that your wheels, tires and wheel wells were very dirty before and very clean after. I almost always have to pull the vehicle out of my garage and clean that area. How did you do it with ONR? Save it for last? brake dust and tire dirt is really thick, how did you rinse it properly? A little help would be appreciated.

Also i kinda cringed when you mentioned you put premium gas in your tank. Premium doesnt mean the gas is better, it simply means that the fuel ignites at a different stage than other grades. This comes into play with higher performance engines. 87 octane ignights under a certain compression at a certain temperature when your pistons are at a certain point in the cylinder. Putting a different octane in your engine changes when the fuel actually ignites. Your engine is set by the factory/computer to ignite the fuel at a certain point. So either its ignighting sooner or later with premium and best case scenario your computer will adjust and compensate. either case you are throwing money away. Heres a thread I found on a CR-Z forum for you.

Honda CRZ Forum: Honda CR-Z Hybrid Car Forums

Its one of those old wives type tales like sitting too close to the TV hurts your eyes or Going outside with wet hair will make you sick. They are both myths. And the "treating the old girl to a tank of premium every once in a while" is another old tale from grandpas days. Trust me...actually DONT TRUST ME, just go read as much as you can about it.

Sorry to hijack! Very nice car btw!

real quick heres another article on the premium in regular tank

Do You Really Need Premium? - Edmunds.com

 

[Klasse Act]

Kris, thanks for the props on my ONR but all the credit goes to them! I do save the tires/wheels for last but I didn't wash the wheelwells, it could've been a later photo where I hit the touch-free wash too. When the car was super salty, I sprayed the entire car down with the ONR quick detailer first and then went to town on the car, came out perfectly and actually the recent review of the ONR and black car said to do as much IIRC, it really, really does work!

Now, as far as the premium goes, well first of all I'm on that site (same screen name too) and all I can tell you is this, my old car (2010 Fit sport) is also tuned to run on 87 but it says "atleast" 87 octane and while running 87 in the winter, it would average 22-23 mpg and then I switched to 93 and the mileage went up to 28-29 mpg, same brand and station too, along with same route and same temps. This is the honest to God's truth too, no bull and I check my mileage ever tank using the calculator method, this way its accurate.

For the record, it was 70 today so I applied a coat of Zaino Z-5 pro, spring is right around the corner:dblthumb2:

 

[Klasse Act]

Warmer weather means its time to coat and layer, this is the "Zaino sandwich", Z-CS, followed by Z-5 pro and then another coat of Z-CS....

You may notice that I've finally got my new tires/wheel, dressed the tires w/ Griot's Garage all-season tire dressing, good stuff!

I have to ask some of you vets of AG a question, in another thread called "products you wished you never bought", someone posted Zaino, does anyone know why anyone would include it, I just don't get itFeed back please

 

[Klasse Act]

Got my windows tinted a couple weeks ago, 35% Suntek metallic window tint, couldn't be happier:dblthumb2:

I've also just recieved my order from AG and among the products I'm looking forward to using on my car now is the Black Fire wet diamond all paint sealant as well as their Crystal Seal. I had NO issue's with "Z" but just wanted to see what BF is all about, especially after reading about it here!